


Imagine That

by orphan_account



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bullied Harry, M/M, Pining, Secret Crush, despite the tags this is actually pretty sappy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-20
Updated: 2015-01-20
Packaged: 2018-03-08 10:35:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3206102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry's the weird kid at school without any friends. Louis' kind of in love with him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Imagine That

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ondoyant](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ondoyant/gifts).



> Standard American-ish high school AU (sorry Liz, I'm keeping the Canadian spellings heh).
> 
> Happy Birthday Brittany! You are one of the sweetest, smartest, AWESOME-EST people I know so I hope you do nothing but eat vegan chocolate cake to celebrate :D

Louis had never planned on actually, you know, _talking_ to Harry Styles. That is, until he sees Harry’s books go flying out of his arms, skidding across the floor and crashing into the lockers just before class is due to start.

Louis watches angrily as a group of guys dressed like extras in one of the _Step Up_ movies laugh hysterically before walking away, leaving Harry scrambling to pick up all of his belongings by himself.

Before he even thinks about what he’s doing, Louis rushes over to the side of the hall where Harry’s standing, getting on the floor next to him and picking up pens and math notes and what appears to be a hello kitty stapler.

Harry looks up in surprise, his green eyes wide and (Louis’ sad to see) filled with dread.

“Figured you could use the help,” Louis mutters, his own face burning bright. Right, Harry has no idea who he is. Just because Harry’s the school outcast and Louis’ had a teeny tiny (okay, _massive_ ) crush on him since the start of the year doesn’t mean Harry knows him.

Fuck it. At least his mother will be proud of him for doing a (somewhat selfless) good deed.

Before he has the chance to internally kick himself any further, Harry bursts into a smile that, quite frankly, makes Louis’ heart swell. God, but he’s gorgeous, with his curls and his dimples and his adorable smile. But the whole ‘being a ridiculously good and polite person’ bit certainly helps too.

“Thank you,” Harry says, his eyes sparkling. Louis has to look away before he can do anything embarrassing, scanning the nearly empty hallway one last time to make sure they’ve gotten everything.

“I think that’s it,” Louis starts, finally mentally prepared to meet Harry’s eyes again. Harry’s smile grows, if possible, his dimples even more endearing up close.

“Thank you,” Harry says again, and this time Louis is pleased to note that his face is a bit flushed too.

They both stand up at the same time when the final bell rings and Louis realizes with a start that his class is on the opposite end of the building. Fantastic.

Louis nods awkwardly at Harry and turns to walk away, intending to mentally kick himself for the rest of the period when Harry touches his elbow gently.

“Bye Louis,” he mumbles, the smile lingering in his eyes as he turns and skips off towards his own class.

Louis doesn’t even care that his teacher writes him up for being late. He finally talked to _Harry Styles_. Who _knew his name_.

Not even an hour long lecture on French conjugation can bring him down for the rest of the day.

 

***

 

The thing with high school social hierarchies is, they’re incredibly arbitrary, incredibly restrictive, and incredibly difficult to break out of.

Not to mention stupid, Louis thinks bitterly.

He’s actually been pretty lucky. He and his best friends Zayn and Stan had been labeled the _quiet stoner kids_ from their first year onwards, meaning no one bothers, bullies, or expects anything from them. While he still hates high school as much as the next person, he doesn’t actually have to deal with any of the _Mean Girls_ shit that other kids do. For the most part, he comes in, does his time, and leaves, not talking to anyone he doesn’t have to.

Harry, on the other hand, hasn’t been nearly as lucky. He’d had the unfortunate luck of transferring over from some fancy arts school on the other side of the city at the start of 11th grade three months ago. Harry is nothing short of delightful, making small talk with the teachers before class and always paying attention. He offers pencils and pens to his classmates who forget them, and Louis has rarely seen him without a smile on his face.

Unfortunately for Harry, those aren’t exactly admirable traits when it comes to fitting in with the rest of the student body. Most people just leave him alone, not caring enough to make the effort to reach out to the new kid. Then there are the assholes - namely Jimmy, Marcus, and Stewart - who delight in doing their very best to make Harry miserable.  

Whether it’s by calling him names, spitting in his food (which has happened at least twice to Louis’ knowledge), or, as Louis has just witnessed, knocking his books out of his hands, they thrive on their tactics of low level bullying. Harry isn’t their only victim, but he _is_ the one who’s entirely alone and friendless.

Louis hates himself a little more each and every time he sees someone being terrible to Harry without doing anything about it, but he’s long come to terms with the fact that he’s a giant coward. He’s afraid of putting himself out there lest the bullies turn on him too. He’d been the victim of mean kids in middle school, and he’s done everything in his power to avoid it from high school onwards. He’s not proud of it, but it’s the truth.

After what happened in the hallway, though, Louis’ determined not to let his fear dictate his actions anymore. He likes Harry, sure, but even stepping beyond that, Harry deserves _better_ than how he’s been treated. It’s time to stop pining from afar and start acting.

And if Louis falls asleep with a smile on his face after replaying their encounter about 50 times in his head, well, that’s just a bonus.

 

***

 

It’s not until a couple of days later that Louis’ second opportunity to approach Harry strikes. Once again, it’s under the shittiest of circumstances.

Harry is sitting alone at a table in the back corner of the cafeteria, just trying to eat his lunch and read a book, when a lone member of the same group of assholes who’d been bothering him in the hallway approaches.

Louis can’t really explain what it is that makes him turn his head to watch, but once his eyes land on the scene unfolding in front of him, he knows he can’t look away.

The guy harassing Harry, some stupid fuck with a buzzcut, picks the sandwich up off of Harry’s tray and dangles it over the edge of the table before dropping it on the ground. Harry doesn’t even say anything, just watches with a blank expression as the boy stomps on it for good measure.

This time Louis’ fully aware of his actions, and even the barely repressed feeling of panic in his chest can’t stop him from striding over to Harry’s table. He shoves the asshole out of the way before firmly planting himself down in the open space next to Harry.

“This seat taken?” he inquires, though it’s a little late considering he’s already making himself at home and pulling out his own lunch.

Harry stares at him blankly as the dumbass bully gapes behind them, his eyes darting back and forth between them. He opens his mouth to say something and Louis just steamrolls right over him.

“I’m basically a five year old in an 18 year old’s body so my mom still packs my lunch, and she gave me a little bit too much today. Was hoping you could do me a big favour and take half of it.” Louis explains as he hands Harry one side of his sandwich and a bag of pretzels.

Harry’s expression hardly changes, but Louis can see amusement and gratefulness dancing in his eyes. “Yeah, of course. Always happy to help.”

The bully is still just kind of standing there, all of the wind knocked out of his sails by the sudden turn of events. Truth be told, Louis’ pretty damn tired of it.

“Are you really just going to stand there with your mouth hanging open for the rest of the lunch period? Fuck off, please and thanks.” Louis says darkly, not even looking at the bully.

The only indication Louis gets that he’s finally walked away is the subtle change in Harry’s posture - the way his shoulders sag in relief and his face relaxes.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Harry mumbles, but it’s obvious he’s glad Louis did.

“I should have done that months ago,” Louis retorts, still annoyed with himself for being such a gigantic baby for so long.

Harry just laughs quietly before looking down at his lunch tray. “Your friends’ faces are hilarious. I’m guessing they weren’t exactly in the loop?”

Louis’ eyebrows push together in confusion until he actually takes a look over his shoulder and notices that both Stan and Zayn appear to be on the verge of an aneurysm.

“Oh yeah, I, uh … I didn’t exactly plan any of this. I think they’re just in shock.”

Harry grins. “You could invite them to join us, if you want. I feel bad making you spend an entire lunch with the school loser just to prove a point.”

Louis’ eyes jerk up to meet Harry’s. “Is that really what you think? That I’m only doing this because of those dicks?”

Harry shrugs. “I don’t know what to think.”

Louis sighs. “Then I’m sorry, that wasn’t my intention at all.” He bites the inside of his cheek as he thinks. “Look, what happened … what _keeps_ happening to you is fucked up. I’ve wanted to talk to you for, like, months, but I was always too, I don’t know, nervous? Yeah, nervous, I guess to approach you. You always seem so untouchable.” Harry frowns and Louis clarifies. “You’re so kind and you genuinely don’t seem to give a fuck about what people think.”

Harry looks like he has no idea what to say, his eyes permanently wide open at this point. “Are you saying you never talked to me because you were intimidated by my kindness?” He asks, disbelief plain in his voice.

“Well, of course it sounds stupid when you put it like that,” Louis says, fighting back a blush.

Harry lets out an undignified snort of laughter. “I can’t even believe this. _Louis Tomlinson_ is afraid of me. I can honestly say I never saw this coming.”

Louis pouts, but he can feel a smile trying to force it’s way through. “Shut up. You are scary, being all sweet and curly and staying true to yourself even though you don’t have any friends.”

Harry’s smile drops. “I have friends.”

Louis’ not quite sure how he’s managed to fuck up already, but Harry keeps on talking before he has a chance to try and fix it.

“Two best friends. Liam and Niall. Just because we don’t go to the same school anymore doesn’t make them my friends any less.”

Louis hand reaches across the table to grab Harry’s before he’s consciously aware of what he’s doing. “I’m sorry. I’m bad at that whole ‘thinking before speaking’ thing everyone else seems to be so good at.”

Harry laughs despite himself. “It’s okay, it was a kneejerk reaction. You didn’t know. If I were you I’d probably think the same thing.”

Louis struggles internally for a second, debating whether he’s about to cross another line. His traitor mouth opens before he’s settled on a decision.

“Why go here, then? If it means you’re separated from your friends?”

Harry sighs. “My stepdad got laid off over the summer so we had to move into a smaller place. They couldn’t afford our old house, let alone my art school tuition. It sucks, but it’s only for another two years after this.” Harry shrugs. “I’ll deal.”

Louis can’t help but frown. “But you shouldn’t have to. You should be getting high under the bleachers and crashing parties and all that other _One Tree Hill_ shit. Not getting bullied.”

Harry gives him a sad smile. “It is what it is, I guess. I can’t exactly change my situation, so I figure I may as well make the best of it.”

Louis is just profoundly _sad_ for Harry in that moment and makes an impulsive and potentially idiotic decision.

“No.”

Harry stares at him in confusion. “No, what?”

Louis stands up, holding his hand out for Harry to take. “No, I refuse to let you just settle for a shitty final last few years of high school. This place is hell enough without adding bullying into the mix.”

Harry cautiously takes Louis’ hand, and Louis can see the battling emotions fighting it out inside of him.

“Okay,” he finally says, his hand gripping Louis’ tightly as he comes to a decision. Louis grins.

“Excellent.” he pauses, throwing what’s left of his lunch in the trash. “Where do you live?”

Harry’s eyebrows raise. “Um… why?”

Louis looks at him seriously. “Because, Harry, we’re friends now. And friends help friends who are sad feel better. Also, there are only two hours left of school and I’m bored.”

“You do know we have that English paper due in a few - ”

Louis cuts him off with a grin. “Come on, Harry, where’s your sense of adventure?”

“I think you accidentally threw it out with your lunch, Louis.”

Louis smirks, pleased. “Feistiness is a good look on you.”

Harry rolls his eyes but doesn’t respond, taking the lead instead and dragging Louis out of the cafeteria behind him.

Louis takes one final look at his friends’ table, admiring the looks of stunned confusion still plastered on Zayn and Stan’s faces before giving them a thumbs up.

 

***

 

So it turns out Harry wasn’t kidding when he said his parents had to downsize. Based on the way Harry had talked about his old house and his old school on the walk over, Louis had been picturing some sort of sprawling suburban home with a three car garage and a swimming pool.

Instead he’s met with the sight of a quaint semi-detached home on a decidedly middle class street. No garage either.

Harry almost looks embarrassed, and Louis kind of hates himself in that moment, needing him to know that he’s not judging him (how could he, when his family’s not exactly rolling in money to begin with).

“I know it’s not much - ” Harry starts to say, but Louis refuses to let him feel the need to make any more excuses for his house.

“Harry, I have more siblings than you have family members and this place is still bigger than ours. Believe me when I say I don’t give a shit about the size of your house.”

Harry smiles, looking relieved. He pats his pockets awkwardly before pulling out a rainbow coloured lanyard with his keys and LGBTQIA support keychains dangling off the end. Louis can’t help but notice how Harry does his best to shield it from his view, clearly worried about what Louis will think of him. Louis feels his heart break, just wanting to pull this boy he barely knows into a hug.

Louis chooses to sigh dramatically instead, reaching down to his pant leg and rolling it up until the triangle tattooed on his ankle is exposed. Harry looks confused by his actions until he sees what Louis is pointing to, his eyes going wide.

“It’s not just you,” Louis finally says with as much of a smile as he can summon. He’s been out to his closest friends and his family since he was 16, but it’s still awkward coming out to other people, never knowing if it’s going to change how they think of and act around him. Obviously, he knows that won’t be the case with Harry, but still. There’s a reason no one at school knows anything about his personal life.

“Why?” Harry asks, a faint red colouring his face when he realizes he’s said it out loud.

Louis just shrugs. “Same reason you’ve got the keychains, I guess. Because I’m proud of who I am but sometimes I just need something to remind me that all the shit that comes with being gay is worth it.”

Harry nods. “Yeah, I uh …” He pauses shyly. “I’ve been thinking about getting something too. But I’m not sure what, yet, you know? Short of a coat hanger I can’t really think of anything.”

Louis smirks at that. “You’re what, 16?” At Harry’s embarrassed nod, Louis continues. “You’ve got plenty of time. Hell, you could even just get a matching one with me if you wanted. It’s sort of the most blatant thing you could do aside from a rainbow.”

Harry snorts and finally puts his keys in the lock, pushing the door open and letting Louis in ahead of him.

Louis squints as Harry flips on the light, taking a second to adjust before focusing on the room around him.

Despite Harry’s lingering discomfort, Louis’ pleasantly surprised by the lack of awkwardness between them. Harry gives him a quick tour, showing him the kitchen and the living room and the basement (with the fully stocked bar, well done Harry’s parents) before leading him up to his bedroom.

Harry pauses outside the door, looking as though he’s mentally struggling with a decision before finally pushing it open to reveal a small room with lavender coloured walls, a neatly made twin bed, and dozens of movie and music posters plastering the walls.

Louis strides straight over to the bed and faceplants onto it, groaning at how soft the mattress is. He can hear Harry giggle behind him before he closes the door and takes a seat on the other end of the bed.

“I hope you realize you’re stuck with me now.” Louis mumbles, his face still half-buried in the duvet. “This is the most comfortable bed I’ve ever had the pleasure of lying on. I’m never leaving.”

“And where am I supposed to sleep, then?”

Louis shrugs indifferently.

“There’s always the couch.”

Harry snorts out another laugh, not bothering to hide the sound of it. “Isn’t it a little unethical to kick me out of my own room?”

Louis finally rolls over and quirks his eyebrows mock-suggestively. “You could always join me…”

Harry rolls his eyes before poking Louis in the shoulder. “Like we’d both fit. I barely have enough room as it is.” He pauses consideringly. “Though you are quite tiny, aren’t you? Maybe we could find a way to squeeze you in after all.”

Louis may be many things, but tiny _is not_ one of them. At least, that’s what he tells himself. Either way, Harry’s gross disrespect about his stature can not and will not be tolerated.

Louis lets out a vicious war cry before pushing Harry to the floor, landing with an oof on top of him.

His assault is clearly unsuccessful as Harry immediately bursts into amused laughter.

“You’re the worst,” Louis laments.

Harry snickers. “You just pushed me off my own bed. I’m pretty sure _you’re_ the worst.”

“You know, Harold, this whole friendship thing can never work if we keep hurting each other like this.”

Harry rolls his eyes fondly. “I’m pretty sure the only one doing the hurting here is you, Lewis.”

Louis sticks out his tongue like the five year old he is before climbing back up on the bed and pulling Harry along with him.

“No, but seriously. We’re friends now, right?” Louis asks, wanting to cut the playfulness for a second.

Harry nods, his own face mirroring Louis’ tone.

“Friends know things about their friends. Like, where they grew up and how many siblings they have - ”

“Already told you the first bit. And one, older. A sister.” Harry interjects. Louis smiles, poking Harry gently in the arm.

“Well, we’re off to a good start then, but I want to know more about your life. Obviously school doesn’t count as we both talk about being there like a prison sentence.”

Harry looks down with a smile, and Louis’ tempted to poke at the spot in his cheek where he knows a dimple’s supposed to be.

“Well, there are my best friends Liam and Niall who I grew up with. They still go to my old school, that posh art one on the other side of town. It costs, like, an absurd amount of money per year, so it wasn’t exactly possible to keep up.” Harry shrugs like it’s no big deal but Louis knows it must hurt.

“Anyway, yeah. I used to study photography, Liam took singing, and Niall was into instrumental. Liam’s house was closest to school so we’d always head over to his place after class and just eat a ton of shitty junk food and mess around with his video games.” Harry’s still smiling, but it’s tinged with sadness. “We’d go to Niall’s sometimes, whenever Liam had the car, and we’d play with his instruments for hours. We swore we were going to make it in music someday, be the next big thing. We actually sent a few demo tapes out over the summer, before everything went to shit with my family.”

Louis can feel the affection and happiness seeping out of the boy in front of him as he talks about his old life, and he realizes what an abruptly terrible thing it must be to go from that to attending a public school where he doesn’t know anyone and has to deal with being bullied every day. He kind of wants to go back in time three months and hit that version of himself in the face for not talking to Harry sooner.

“Anyway, it doesn’t really matter now, it’s not like it’s going to happen with how things are, but it was nice. I don’t know, I’m probably boring you.”

 _Quite the opposite_ , Louis wants to scream, but that’d be weird. He settles for staring at Harry until he makes eye contact with him.

“I’m sorry you had to move, and I’m sorry you don’t get to see your friends as often as you used to. But I think you’re kind of amazing, and I have no doubt in my mind that you guys could still make it big if you wanted to.”

Harry lets out a startled laugh, not expecting the depth of Louis’ sincerity. “You can’t say that. You haven’t even heard us play, yet!”

Louis leans back against Harry’s wall, a challenging look in his eye. “Then show me.”

“What - ”

“I see that guitar leaning against the wall over there. Show me how awesome you are.”

“Louis, I don’t - “

“Don’t what? How are you ever going to be able to play in massive arenas if you can’t even play in front of one stranger?”

Harry frowns. “You’re not a stranger.”

Louis can’t help the smile that forces itself on to his face. “One friend, then.”

Harry sighs dramatically but ultimately obliges, grabbing his guitar from the other side of the room and settling on the bed with it in his lap.

“Okay, I’m warning you that I only started learning a few months ago and I’m still kind of shit.”

Louis shakes his head, trying his best to keep a stern look on his face. “Harry, you’re not supposed to issue a disclaimer before playing. You have to believe in yourself. Fake it til you make it, and all that.”

Harry makes a face but doesn’t say anything else self-deprecating. His hand hovers over the strings before he starts playing something soft and slow that Louis doesn’t recognize.

Before Louis has the chance to process that Harry’s obviously a liar because his guitar playing skills are _wonderful_ , Harry starts singing, and Louis kind of wonders if he’s dreaming, because there’s no way this is actually happening.

Harry is, simply put, magnetic. His voice is low and smooth, the words coming from his mouth dripping onto his guitar like honey. Louis absolutely has no doubts now that he’s something special, that he’s going to captivate the entire world with nothing but his voice and his guitar.

By the time Harry finishes the song, Louis wonders how creepy it would be to ask him to never stop playing it. Harry looks up shyly as the final note leaves his fingers on the strings, the sudden silence in the room somehow louder than the song before it.

“Harry, that was … that was _beautiful_. Holy shit, you’re _so_ talented I don’t even know what else to say. I’m speechless. You’ve literally made me speechless and if there’s one thing I’m known for it’s talking all the fucking time.”

Harry beams, his eyes lighting up and _yeah_ , his song definitely isn’t the only beautiful thing in the room. Louis now more than ever wants to kiss him, but he’s pretty sure they haven’t reached that stage yet. They have only known each other for about two hours, not counting the encounter in the hallway a few days prior.

Even despite his doubts, Louis’ eyes stay locked on Harry’s and he has this feeling deep inside his gut that it’s mutual. That if he decided to lean forward right now and press his mouth against Harry’s it would be the most amazing experience of his life.

Fuck it, he decides. He’s trying this whole ‘being brave’ thing out, right? In for a penny, in for a pound, whatever the fuck that means.

With his eyes still glued to Harry’s, he leans forward slowly, putting his hand against Harry’s chest, a terrified voice in the back of his mind screaming that he’s making a mistake, that Harry couldn’t possibly feel the same way about him too, that he’s not the kind of person people _feel like that about_ when suddenly Louis feels Harry’s hands around his waist, pulling him closer as their lips finally meet.

It’s like magic, is what it is, and while the jaded cynical Louis of five minutes ago would laugh at how stupid he sounds, this new finally-kissing-the-boy-of-his-dreams Louis thinks that every cliche he’s ever heard about love is absolutely one million percent true.

How he lived without this for 18 years he’ll never know.

Of course, fate has to choose that moment to laugh in Louis’ lovestruck face as he hears Harry’s door bang open and a shocked gasp.

Louis pulls away to see a guy with a buzzcut, soft brown eyes, and mouth hanging open staring at them from the door, a granola bar dangling precariously from his fingers.

“Liam?” Harry asks, his eyes still glazed over a bit.

The boy - Liam, evidently - looks back and forth between the two of them on the bed in confusion.

Harry snickers, no longer able to hold in his response to Liam’s hilarious reaction, and it’s only a second or two before Louis joins in, giggling hysterically next to him.

Liam fishmouths for another moment before walking out of Harry’s room and firmly closing the door behind him, shouting a warning to someone downstairs about not disturbing them.

Harry finally manages to stop laughing, his face growing fond instead as he looks at Louis (who’s pretty sure he has a matching expression on his own face).

“So that’s Liam?” Louis confirms.

Harry nods. “That’s Liam. If he’s here, Niall probably is too.”

Louis nods, a sudden feeling of nervousness thrumming in his veins. Harry must notice the change in Louis’ expression because he takes his hand gently.

“It’s okay, they already know about you.” He says, and rather than calming Louis’ nerves down it makes him even more anxious.

“What? Why?”

Harry blushes. “I’ve, uh, kind of had a crush on you since September?”

Louis gapes at him, genuinely taken aback.

Harry looks a bit like he hates himself, so Louis pushes his own feelings of bafflement to the back of his mind and twines his fingers with Harry’s.

“Harry, I’ve been hopelessly in love with you since you moved here.”

Harry somehow manages to look like he’s incredibly happy and like he’s going to be ill at the same time. Louis knows the feeling.

“Why’d it take you so long to talk to me?” He finally asks, the confusion clear in his eyes.

Louis looks down, embarrassed, but squeezes Harry’s hand for good measure. “I told you. I was scared.”

“Of me? Really?”

Louis just nods, finally looking back up. “You’re just so vibrant, Harry. You remind me that world isn’t as horrible as it feels sometimes. I’m not good with all of that. I internalize things and I always assume the worst about people. About myself, even. But you, you’re so bright and so honest and good. You’re brilliant. And you terrify me.”

Harry looks like he wants to say something indignant, like he can’t possibly believe Louis could really have such a low opinion of himself, but he settles for kissing him instead. Louis’ not exactly disappointed by the turn of events.

“Louis, I wish you could see yourself the way I do. If anyone’s brilliant, it’s you.”

Louis just shrugs, pleased but still too embarrassed to say anything back.

“Come on,” Harry says, tugging him up from the bed. “I want you to meet my friends. _Properly_ , this time.”

Louis grins as Harry tugs him down the stairs behind him, calling out both Niall and Liam’s names. Harry turns to shoot him maybe the most beautiful smile Louis’ ever seen before they make it to the main floor, and Louis thinks that yeah, maybe he is worth it after all. Maybe the boy he’s pined after for months really does like him back too.

Imagine that.

 

 


End file.
